Good news for the baseball business

The 8% rise in spend is a sign of faith in pro baseball’s growth, after the 2016 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians was the most watched World Series in 12 years, and Game 7 of that series was the most watched single game in 25 years.

“We had storylines in the postseason that kept audiences with baseball even after their individual team was out,” said Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred at Yahoo Finance’s All Markets Summit in February. He called the excitement around the 2016 World Series a “reaffirmation of the fundamental strength of our game.” It makes sense that following a record-breaking World Series, MLB sponsors upped their investment.

For comparison purposes, via ESP Research: NBA sponsors spent $861 million last season, a 7.8% increase from the year before and inching closer to MLB; NHL sponsors spent $505 million last season, a 5.9% increase over the year before; and MLS sponsors are projected to have spent $347 million this season, which would be a 4.1% increase.

Aaron Hicks and Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees celebrate after beating the Houston Astros in Game 5 of the ALCS on Oc. 18, 2017 (Getty)

In football, it’s a different story right now, though it still has the highest sponsor spend: $1.25 billion last season.

Football is seeing a different sponsor trend

The MLB sponsor spending hike is not a direct result of the current NFL season’s political controversy, since the NFL season begins in September, when baseball is already wrapping up its regular season. But it is interesting that while MLB is seeing sponsor spending growth, NFL sponsors are pulling back.